Apple growers call for mandatory maturity standard

The Western Australian apple industry is following the table grape industry's lead by calling for the introduction of mandatory maturity standards, to ensure a consistent flow of high quality fruit to consumers.

It'll involve compliance checks on all fruit going to market to ensure it meets an agreed industry standard.

Manjimup apple grower Harvey Giblett says it's important to deliver a good eating experience for consumers.

"And that'll be determined by pressures and sugar, in terms of meeting those minimum standards customers expect when they buy something, to create a situation where the absolute majority of fruit meets a certain maturity standard, so we're not trying to push fruit onto consumers that is really not edible.

"Out of this situation, no one really loses. It's just a matter of growers just waiting a few more days until the sugars come up.

"So there's no losers, other than us if we don't get it right."

Executive manager of the state industry's peak body Fruit West, Graeme McAlpine, has been involved in fruit quality work and testing since the 1980s.

His aim is to get to a point where growers are producing as much fruit as they can, in certain ranges, and consumers come back to buy more.

"It's a successful business component as far as we see it," Mr McAlpine said.

The table grape industry now drives its own quality code to monitor the maturity of fruit every season.

Although there are still challenges within the industry to remove variability, Mr McAlpine says it's been a big success.

"The industry reports a levelling in the supply and demand curves, a fairly uniformed pricing through the season.

"It is lauded here in WA and nationally and they're all quite envious of how we work the program, and they're all sort of itching to get involved."

He says Fruit West has hosted programs to monitor the variability of maturity in apples for two years.

Citrus and table grapes already have their compliance component under the Biosecurity Agriculture Management Act

As a result of a decision made at a leadership group meeting last week, Fruit West will be writing to the legal team at the Department of Agriculture and Food WA to get the ball rolling.

"There was a decision taken to commence the process with Granny Smith apples, Gala apples and Pink Lady."

The move to add pome fruit to the quality programs was well received by WA's Minister for Agriculture and Food Ken Baston.

He said he'd be prepared to sign off on it.

"It lifts the standard of the product, it is important. It has worked for the grape industry, so I can't see why it wouldn't work for the apple industry."